


Sunflower, Daisy, Bluebell, Lily

by Rasiaa



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Family, Holidays, Kidnapping, Memory Loss, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Horror, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-25
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2020-10-28 06:17:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20773928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rasiaa/pseuds/Rasiaa
Summary: Something's different now. There are footprints next to the door, and that's the last thing she sees before everything goes black.Or, how Lily Luna learns the hard way to trust--strangers, her friends, family, but most of all how to trust herself.





	1. Kidnapped

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the Trick or Treat Challenge and Competition: Potters, Lily Luna.
> 
> Bear with me on this. I hope to get chapters out within a decent time frame, but anyone who's followed me for any length of time knows that's a nice dream. It's a horror fic, so keep that in mind while reading. It'll be more explicit, probably, here on ao3 than over on ff.net, so if you want the watered down version head over there. (I must say, I didn't plan a multi-chap. Let's hope I know where it's going.)
> 
> The title will make sense, I promise.

Boredom becomes overwhelming when she realizes that she's been steadily sliding a needle under her skin. Slowly, she pulls it out and watches the blood with detached interest.

"Great Godric, what's wrong with you?"

Lily looks over her shoulder to find her brother Allie on his way over. She frowns. They never talk unless they're forced to--what he could want is beyond her imagining.

He sits next to her, completely unconcerned with the water that stains his jeans as his feet hit a puddle. The snow has been melting over the last several hours, but she knows from the Muggle weather reports that it's going to storm again tonight or tomorrow morning. It's been an early winter this year; this is the third major snow storm in as many weeks, and it's barely November.

"What do you want?" she asks, making an effort not to snap. Although their relationship is significantly better now than when they were teenagers, it sometimes is all too easy to slip back to their old ways.

"I can't just want to see my sister?" he asks. Her frown deepens, eyes narrowing.

"No. You've never wanted to see me."

"Ouch," he says, but makes no effort to deny it. "Mum says she wants to take the patio furniture inside so it doesn't get damaged by the storm. She's enlisted our assistance. She has lemonade and cookies for an incentive." He waves his hand dismissively, rolling his eyes. "I'd rather have money, but whatever."

"You make plenty of money," Lily says, scoffing. "And can't she put a cloth over it or something? Repair it if it gets hurt?"

"Apparently that's too much work."

She sighs and stands, wincing at the water seeping through her clothing. There's a small smirk of amusement on Allie's face when she looks at him, but it disappears under a mask of indifference as quickly as it arrived.

This is why she doesn't like him. Slytherin through and through.

And maybe that's prejudiced, and hypocrisy, since Dominique is a Slytherin but everyone likes her. But Dom doesn't act like Allie--aloof, distant, concealed, competitive to the point of damaging.

"Fine, fine, whatever," Lily says, wiping the small amount of blood onto her jacket and sliding the pin into her pocket. It's something Allie had given her this past Christmas, actually; it's an amazingly thoughtful gift. She's always had a soft spot for Lhasa Apso dogs, and this pin also has _diamonds_.

It must've cost a fortune.

"Come on, then," she says, turning and heading inside.

She walks right into the chaos she'd tried to escape. With Teddy and Victoire's daughter on the loose, that would cause enough of a ruckus, but on top of that Uncle George has been slipping new potions into drinks and Fred and Louis are in on it. Gran has about lost her damn mind.

"James has been unhooking all the lights and whatnot," Allie says from behind her; she jumps. There's no concealing the smirk on his face this time. She wants to hit him.

Instead she does the mature thing and scowl before walking to the back door, where all the Halloween decor is being removed to be replaced with Christmas stuff come December first. It'll be the fourth year she's helping with it; some part of her longs to go back to Hogwarts and its extravagance, but then she can remember her final year there and the Makeup Disaster of the Century with her three best friends and suddenly she's fine where she is, obnoxious family or no.

Adelaide, the five year old demon from Victoire and Teddy, rushes up to her. She's got a cloak on like it's a cape and somehow she found frankly alarming pig ears on a headband. "Lily!"

"Addie," she says, with far less enthusiasm. Her distaste for children under the age of ten is well known throughout her family, with the exception of the only child under the age of ten.

Allie, the traitor, slips passed her and into the yard while the demon starts describing the candy phoenix that Granddad--meaning Bill, not Lily's Grandpa Arthur--had made for her, and Lily is stuck nodding along like she gives a damn.

"Here," a voice says behind her, quiet and amused. Lily glances over to find her Uncle Bill, much to her relief. "Come here, sweetheart. Lily's busy."

"Granddad!" the demon yelps in delight, holding her arms up. Bill lifts her and settles her on his hip, nodding to Lily's immediate family in the yard.

"I think your father is about to have another row with Allie, so I'd step in if I were you," Bill says.

"Let them fight; see if I can muster enough energy to give a damn," Lily responds tiredly, energy draining the longer she watches the pandemonium around her.

"Don't be like that," Bill says, exasperated. "Great Merlin, you've been a real downer lately. What's going on?"

Lily shakes her head quickly. "Nothing, nothing. Everything's just grand."

Bill looks dubious. "You sure?"

"Yeah," Lily agrees, then reaches for the demon's hand, which was about to yank Bill's earring out of his head. "That's not for you," she tells the demon.

The demon looks put out. Bill just rolls his eyes. "Come on, Addie, I think there's more candy inside," he says.

"I pity Teddy and Vic," Lily says, watching the demon's face light up.

"That's what grandparents are for," Bill says, shrugging. "It'll be payback for all the heart attacks those two gave me with their misadventures."

"Something tells me they won't see it that way," she answers, laughing slightly. She can see Teddy come around the corner to get in line of sight with Bill's back and his daughter, and his face falls with dismay. Bill is renowned for making children a nightmare for a few days as long as he gets a hold on them.

Bill just winks and turns around, paying his son-in-law no mind as he tries to get the demon. The demon just laughs.

"You coming, Sunflower?"

Lily sighs. She turns to head back to the yard, finding her parents' and her brothers' eyes on her.

The grass is wet under her feet, and not for the first time, she regrets wearing her suede boots. The stains will be horrendous, and even the promise of Repairo isn't enough to make the sadness go away.

Her mother hands her keys as soon as she's close enough. "Go unlock the shed, won't you? Make sure nothing's in the way."

"Yes, Mum," she says, taking the huge key ring with resignation. James and Allie start arguing so Ginny turns away, likely not noticing Lily's mood. She would've said something otherwise.

She tunes out the shouting as she walks to the shed on the other side of the yard, too used to it after twenty two years.

It takes her five solid minutes to locate the correct key. She has no idea what the rest of them are even for. Still, the door opens easily enough. She flicks on the light switch.

The hair on her neck stands straight up, and her heart begins to race.

She pulls her wand out of her boot, venturing inside carefully.

She's been in this shed thousands of times. She knows it inside and out; the brooms are kept in the cupboard in the corner, the other Quidditch equipment next to it. There are a lot of shelves along one wall, all of them bearing the weight of dozens of knickknacks collected over decades. A few of her dad's Muggle contraptions are under the shelves.

Nothing immediately amiss. Nothing out of place. Still...

There are footprints in the dust next to the door.

It's the last thing she registers before pain explodes behind her eyes and everything goes black.

...

"Wake up!"

Lily blearily opens her eyes.

The ceiling above her isn't one she recognizes, nor does she know the anxious woman hovering over her.

"Oh, thank god," another voice says. "We thought you were dead."

She's never met a witch or wizard that says, "Thank god." Muggles, then, and the accent isn't from England.

She rolls her head to the side, blinking spots from her sight. The other woman is chained to the floor, dressed in Muggle clothes, the kind that Lily has only ever seen on television.

"They said you were a special one," the first woman says, guiding Lily into an upright position. "Valuable."

"I would hope so," she rasps. "My father's a bloody noble."

Not exactly true, but not a lie either. Her family is on the scale of the Malfoys, anyway. Rich. The type to be listened to.

"Where are we?"

"God only knows," the second woman says, irritated. "I--"

"Oh, good," another voice says, and Lily looks to the door, which has a very bright light coming from it, making the woman unclear. "We can get started, now."


	2. Hospitalized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily's out of there, but it isn't any easier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure I'm going to continue this on ff.net. Doesn't seem like an appropriate story.

Jane and Melody.

Those are their names.

Jane, Melody, Lily.

"It's Lily Potter," she says again, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

There's a bit of a scramble, apparently, to find someone who speaks English, not Russian.

The best they can do is a small, old lady. She turns to the police officer and speaks rapidly, the Slavic language going right over Lily's head.

It's been six weeks.

Lily, if she's being honest, barely remembers any of it, but the bloody stitches in her thighs and lashes on her shoulders tell her the experience wasn't pleasant.

The officer nods at whatever the old lady is saying, distracted. His eyes stray over to the house, the fire only just having been extinguished. The fire saved their lives.

Lily isn't sure how long she would've been trapped there if the fire hadn't gotten out of control so quickly.

"Lily."

It's Melody. Lily's fellow redhead snuggles close, wrapping one arm around Lily's waist and burying herself under the blanket. The Russian officer abruptly closes off, hostile but not making any move toward them. The old lady's lip curls in disgust. Lily ignores them, wrapping an arm around Melody in turn. She wishes Jane were in their little huddle, too.

Jane is very hurt, and Lily feels her pain. Jane was the woman chained to the floor, and it had become very clear very quickly why. Lily used to pride herself on her bravery. She used to believe that she'd stand strong in the face of adversary. But she hadn't. She knows that much. Jane did. Jane was the strongest of the three of them. Lily had been the weakest.

Melody's voice is barely a breath on Lily's skin. "These people scare me, Lily. They don't like us much. They know we're Westerners."

"You're American," Lily points out needlessly. "You sound American. It's not hard to decode."

"I hate governments," is the response. "Fuck them all."

"Yes, yes," Lily says, distracted. Melody had been saying similar things for weeks. "Let's go see Jane."

Jane's eyes open slightly when they reach her. "My girls," she says, smiling. "How are you, ladies?"

"How are we?" Melody says, indignant. "You're the one with the punctured lung, you moron."

"Ah, better me than darling Lily, no?"

"I'd heal faster," Lily answers.

Jane huffs a laugh, then winces. "You're human, just the same as us. You'll heal as fast as your body allows."

_But I have magic_, she wants to say. _I can mend a wound in a snap._

She looks up when there's a fast beating noise, confused. Melody makes a hum of acknowledgement. "The news helicopter is here. No doubt we'll be on planes back home in no time."

"Planes?" Lily says, before she can stop herself. She knows what a plane is. She's never had a need for one before, though.

"Yes. Those flying cars?" Melody says, raising her eyebrows. Lily sighs, fighting back a smile.

These women are kind. Funny. That doesn't mean Lily ever wants to see them again though. They're a reminder she doesn't need.

...

_"Get on with it, why don't you?"_

_Lily's shaking, feebly holding onto Melody's bare shoulders. The man pulls out a gun, laying it across his lap while his wife--the woman in charge of this little operation--paces behind him._

_"Ivan is right, girls. Let's go."_

_"I'm sorry," Melody whispers, pressing kisses to Lily's shoulders, also bare. "I'm sorry. I'll be as gentle as I can."_

_Lily buries her face into Melody's neck. "Who the hell gets off on lesbian sex?"_

_"Every man I've ever met, honey, except the gay ones."_

_Melody lifts Lily's head and kisses her properly, biting, open-mouthed, and fast, right from the start. Her fingers trail down, down, between Lily's legs._

_"There we go," their observers say. "Keep going."_

_Lily moves slightly, rocking down the way she'd done with the one boyfriend she's ever had. The relationship had been about breaking her heart after sleeping with her, but she'd enjoyed it at the time. Melody isn't what she ever imagined for her second time._

_They continue rocking together, and soon Lily forces her hands to wander. She nearly cries when the man lets out a sigh and she hears a zipper. Still, she continues, kissing Melody with her eyes closed, letting the other woman press her fingers along the insides of her thighs. At least it looks real to an outside observer._

...

The hospital is cold and impersonal. Lily shifts in her seat, uncomfortable. All the signs are in Russian, which is a language that doesn't even have the same damn alphabet. For the first time, she fully appreciates the risks some people take when they move to an English-speaking country and don't speak English. Lily knows she's not stupid, but she can tell everyone here thinks she is.

The stares are heavy and she is convinced they're all talking about her. She swallows but her mouth is dry.

Melody has stopped clinging, instead lounging in her chair as if she has no care in the world. Lily envies that kind of calm confidence. She's never had that.

"Lily? Melody?"

The words are clumsy, delivered with a heavy accent. She looks up from the tiled floor.

The man leads them to Jane.

It's clear she's dying.

This hospital doesn't receive much in the way of funding, Lily noticed. They're not equipped to deal with a punctured lung. Jane smiles faintly when she sees them.

"Thank you for coming," she murmurs weakly. "They told me our captors are dead. Is that true?"

Lily hasn't heard anything of the sort. She sees Melody open her mouth and from experience Lily recognizes that she's going to tell Jane just that. So Lily cuts in, "Yes, Jane. They're gone."

Melody frowns but Jane thankfully doesn't notice. She reaches for Lily, so she takes the woman's hand, so cold in the warmth of the room. "They're gone, Jane. You don't have to be afraid of them anymore."

Lily hates that she knows how to comfort people who have been through trauma. She's heard her family say things like this all her life. It's not fair.

A few tears leak from Jane's eyes. "Good. Hope they got what they deserved."

"Death by fire is a terrible thing," Lily answers, and brings Jane's hand to her lips. "They got what was coming to them. Rest, now."

Jane's eyes go to Melody, who grabs Jane's wrist in comfort. "God will take you to heaven," Melody says.

"Don't believe in God, but thanks for the--the sentiment," Jane manages. "Don't let this kill you, you hear me, ladies?"

"We hear you," Melody says, and Lily's breath catches in her lungs as she watches Jane's eyes glaze over. The machine starts beeping wildly and a doctor comes over. He does a brief examination and nods to a nurse, looking at the clock.

Jane's gone.

...

The Russians, despite their clear hesitance, take them to a phone. Lily guesses that all of Melody's open homosexual posturing is pushing their nerves and she kind of wishes that they'd just throw them to the snow, but at the same time she wants the heat of the building. It's a battle.

Melody goes first. She dials a number without pause, then swears and hangs up. She sends a sheepish smile to Lily. "Forgot that it's international. Have to dial one."

She redials.

Lily, meanwhile, has to resign herself to the fact that she will have to find some other method of communication. She knows there's a Muggle phone in her parent's kitchen, but she never bothered to memorize the number. She was confident in magic. Confident in its superiority. Secure in the knowledge that with a wand, she could do anything.

It seems that she has to learn this lesson the hard way.

_"David? Yeah, it's Melody. ...no, I didn't mean--I'm in Russia, okay? Tell mom. I know she has do not disturb on her phone, that's why I called you. I need you to get me. I have no way home..."_

Lily stops listening.

She knows that the number has a two, an eight, and a five in it, but she doesn't remember in what place or order. She doesn't even know the number for an international call; she didn't know such a thing was ever needed. The longer she thinks about it, the more sense it makes, but again, she's never concerned herself with Muggle affairs.

Melody hangs up the phone. She turns to Lily with a relieved smile. "My brother cursed me to hell and back but he's coming to get me, so I'll count that as a win. Unfortunately, he's counting this plane ticket as repayment for the five hundred dollars he owes me, but at least I'll be home." She laughs hollowly. "He's such a dick. I was kidnapped and he talks about debt. See, this is why I never liked him."

Lily smiles weakly. "At least your brother is coming for you. I have no way to contact them even if I thought they'd bother."

"You have a brother?"

"Two older brothers, plus the one my dad took in when I was about three or four. James, Allie, and I, well--we've never seen eye to eye."

Melody looks at her with such potent pity that Lily has to look out the window. There's nothing to see but white snow and dark skies, but at least it isn't false sympathy.

"It doesn't matter," Lily says, dismissing the conversation.

The other woman doesn't look happy, but thankfully drops it. "Do you have anyone to call?" she asks, gesturing to the phone. Wordlessly, Lily shakes her head, throat closing as the hopelessness of the situation begins to dawn. "Well," Melody says after a moment. "I'll buy you a ticket to London, how's that sound?"

Lily looks at her sharply. "I can't--"

"If you finish that with any variation of 'accept that' or 'let you do that,' so help me God, Lily, I'll force you onto a plane myself, my flight be dammed."

Lily stops. "I just... I can't repay you."

"Honey, we alone got out of that alive. We lost Jane, yeah, but there were others before you, you know? Always three of us, and Jane was there the longest. She told me about six others. Catherine, from Ireland. Anna from Germany. Sylvia, from Italy, I think, but I can't remember. Mary from Mexico. A woman who introduced herself as Kitty from the Congo, and I remember her. Meek, but she was killed for disobedience, so there was a fire in her that didn't go out. And Kiku from Japan. She was the one I replaced. Jane knew there were other before her, too.

"Point is, honey, it doesn't matter if you can repay me. I don't care if you're rich like Bill Gates, if you have no way to access that money, consider this a thank you for helping me survive. But hell, if you're that intent on giving me money, I'll give you my PayPal info and you can send some over. How's that sound?"

Lily has no idea what PayPal is, or who Bill Gates is, but she ignores that for the rest. She closes her eyes and doesn't fight the tears. For this gift, for Melody, for Jane, for all the others, and for herself, because they've all lost something. Lily's world has been shattered forever and she's struck silent from the kindness that remains.

"You can send me that info," she manages. She opens her eyes and sees Melody get closer through blurry vision. Melody holds her close and Lily clings back, something like hope being restored.

...

_"Do you think this is funny, you vapid bitch?"_

_Ivan aims a kick to Jane's thigh and she spits on his shoe._

_He curses and kicks her face instead. She rears back, coughing. He grins, cruel appreciation for the way she gasps._

_Jane being Jane, however--she spits the blood in his direction, and red spots ruin his white shirt. He makes a noise of disgust. "You fucking--"_

_"Ivan."_

_The man freezes. He looks over his shoulder to his wife. She taps her wrist and so the man leaves without another word. The door closes._

_Jane spits again, this time to the floor, and winces. "Asshole knows how to aim, that's for sure," she says._

_Lily barely manages to conceal her anger. "Why'd you provoke him?" she demands. "He can kill you, you know."_

_Jane looks at her and smiles. There's something feral in the gentle expression. "He'll kill us no matter what. Might as well give 'em hell."_

_"That's the spirit," Melody says from her corner. She taps on the floor in a constant rhythm. "Make them regret it."_

_"They won't regret anything," Lily says numbly. "People like this never do."_

_"I'll regret it if I somehow survive this and have done nothing," Jane says, sounding annoyed. "It's not about them, really. Girls, if you must learn something here, learn this: you matter, and you can never give your life up to someone else, especially by force. Fight for your right to live."_


	3. Travel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lily begins the journey home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Long time coming, yes. But I kind of consider the a side project, so it'll be updated slowly. I don't think it'll be very long, around ten chapters or so. Ish. Don't quote me on it later, haha.

Melody was absolutely right; David is a dick.

"Middle of the fucking night; can't believe you made me come and get you. I was on that plane for twelve hours, Melody!"

"You poor thing," Melody whines without sympathy. "Must be so horrible to have a sister."

David scowls and doesn't reply. Instead he turns to Lily, looking her up and down. "Melody told me I was buying you a plane ticket, too," he says. Lily, uncertain, looks to Melody. She was under the impression that Melody was paying.

The other woman steps forward with a scornful sigh. "I'll pay you back, David. Just get us out of here. Please."

"Yeah, yeah," he says, and softens. "We've been worried sick, you know." Melody steps forward and her brother wraps an arm around her shoulders. "Leave it to you to get us all into so much trouble," David finishes.

"Leave it to me," Melody echoes.

"Come on, then. Flight is in two hours; managed to find one that stopped in London before heading to New York. It'll take like forty minutes or so to get there; closest airport is something completely unpronounceable in St. Petersburg."

"What a coincidence," Melody says. "God, I can't believe how close we've been to St. Petersburg! All this time, and just a few hours away if we walked."

"We'd die of hypothermia," Lily interjects flatly. She doesn't have her wand so a warming charm is far beyond her.

The siblings look over and roll their eyes in unison. "You need to look at the bright side! Running keeps your blood moving," Melody says, some energy coming back into her. It's clear the promise of home and the presence of her brother is infecting her with hope and relief. 

Lily wishes she could say the same. She has to find wizarding London before she can have any chance of getting home. She has no idea where the closest wizarding establishment would be from the airport.

David has a car waiting in front of the hospital. He hands the driver a piece of paper with the name of the airport on it. The driver makes a noise of confirmation and, once everyone is inside, begins to drive.

...

_Ivan sets a tray on the floor by the door and leaves without a word._

_Looking at it, Lily can see bread and cheese, but she doesn't trust that it isn't poisoned or something._

_Melody doesn't seem to care--or she didn't think of it--because she scrambles over to the tray and shoves a piece of bread into her mouth. She grabs the plate and awkwardly crawls over to Jane, who is shivering and bleeding._

_"Jane? You've gotta eat if you're gonna get better," Melody says softly, trying to coax the woman into lifting her head._

_Jane doesn't move, curled up on the floor. Ivan had released the chains a while ago. Jane sleeps on, breathing too shallow._

_Lily accepted that Jane wasn't going to make it out of here. Melody, however, is stubborn in her faith. She prays every night without fail, repeated requests for guidance and safety. She clutches a tiny cross on a chain in her hands. Lily thinks this is completely pointless, but it keeps the woman sane so whatever._

_"Jane, come on. It's Swiss cheese. I know it's not your favorite, but it's better than nothing. The bread is fresh, too. Warm."_

_After several minutes of prodding, Melody leans back on her heels, defeated. "She's going to die, isn't she?" she says._

_"Yes," Lily says softly, gently. "She's been stabbed, Melody. Shallow, but untreated, so there's probably an infection. There's nothing you can do."_

_"Fuck!" she screams, and presses her forehead to the floor. "Fuck. Please, God, save her!"_

_Melody dissolves into tears and Lily watches, impassive. Lily has seen death before. Teddy's grandmother Andromeda was very sick, and everyone was in the hospital when she passed, though only Harry, Ginny, and Teddy were in the room. Lily remembers Victoire's friend Angela. She got too close to the spiders in the Forest, completely by chance. Everyone saw her body when they found her the next morning. Detentions are no longer allowed in the Forest. It was mangled, unrecognizable. Vic had screamed._

_So Lily knows death when she sees it, and Jane is too far gone._

_Morbid and without hope, she wonders if it will be Melody or herself that will go next._

...

The airport is overwhelming.

A hospital, she can adjust to. At the core, they're all the same, anyway. She could accept that everything was going to be in Russian, so she allowed her mind to detach from it.

The airport, though, is a jumble of languages. St. Petersburg is one of the bigger, more popular cities in the world for tourism, after all. She catches Russian, obviously, but also French, Polish, Ukrainian, Italian, Spanish, and English. Those are just the ones she can name, and she can only name them thanks to Allie's extensive travels.

"Goodness," Melody breathes. "This is incredible! Gosh, what'd I'd give to actually spend time here--but of course, I have no Visa or travel permit or anything, so they're not going to let me stay."

"How unfortunate," David says, deadpan. "Looks like your limited skill in the Russian language is going to go to waste."

"I only know pet names from my ex--and he only knew them because he majored in Russian lit. I doubt that'll get me anywhere," she counters.

"Except maybe into a brothel or something--" David says, a joking smile on his face. Melody stifles a laugh and hits him. "Oh, baby doll--" he continues, undeterred, waving a hand dramatically in front of his face.

"Asshole--"

Lily then looses track of their bickering. It's gentler than the raging fights she's shared with her brothers in the past. For the first time, regret begins to filter in. What she said to Melody in the hospital is true--she's not sure if James or Allie would help her if she needed them to.

She has a hard time remembering when they last got along reasonably. She was very young, and there was an accident. She and Allie got very hurt, and James was at least partially responsible for it. After that, things began to change. She was afraid of James, and Allie was different from the start, but it only got worse and he found a home elsewhere, melting into walls whenever the family came near. Uncle George once remarked that she and her brothers grew up in different households, somehow. They're full-blooded siblings with only two years between each of them, but their childhoods were separate.

Growing up with different experiences and feelings leads to different ideas. And then there was the intrinsic knowledge that they were family and their differences seemed so stark. So explosion after explosion kept happening and now, she can barely stand to be in the same room with her brothers.

Melody called her brother a dick and it was clear they got on each other's nerves, but it was more playful than she expected to see.

"Flight 649 to London, England, ready for boarding."

She catches the overhead announcement by chance, too lost in thought. Melody looks at her and the smile fades from her face. "Oh, Lily," she murmurs. "It'll be alright. I'll be right next to you, the whole time."

This is not as much of a comfort as the woman intends, but Lily doesn't dare say so. Instead she nods, and smiles feebly.

Going through the terminal and security checks is terrifying, and getting into the plane itself is even more so. She's trapped in here for hours, hundreds of miles in the air, and she feels sick with that knowledge.

Take off is rocky and her head and ears hurt, so she puts her head down and takes deep breaths.

...

_Lily makes it her job to pretend to sleep in the corner._

_She is so tired of watching Melody tend to Jane. She is tired of starvation. She is tired of Jane's arguments with Ivan and his wife, who keeps her name to herself. She is tired of this cold, damp cellar in some random country she doesn't know. She's tired of Muggles, honestly._

_She wants to go home._

_"What are you thinking of, darling?"_

_Jane's voice is incredibly unexpected._

_Lily jumps a little and swings her head to look at her. Melody is actually asleep on one of the thin blankets they've been given, so it must be Lily that Jane is talking to._

_Sure enough, Jane smiles gently at her when their eyes meet. "My Ma was always very good at making cakes," Jane murmurs. She's nearly slurring the words, but her eyes are clear. "She was a baker, you see. Died from cancer when I was twenty seven, so two years ago, now. Liver cancer--can't be cured." Jane falls silent for a moment before she continues. "Anyway, she made this cake for my birthday one year. I can't remember how old I was, but I was young. Ten or eleven, maybe. Red velvet, white whipped frosting with cream cheese in the center. I'll never forget it because it was the first birthday I had without my dad, who had gone away to war. He's still alive, but couldn't be there."_

_Lily has no idea why Jane is telling her this. Surely there's a reason?_

_Jane swallows. "I was taken three weeks before his sixty eighth birthday. I wonder how he's faring now, and if I'll ever--"_

_"It'll be okay," Lily says, awkwardly. Jane smiles at her again, but it's sadder._

_"I'm dying, Lily dear." The words are final. "You gotta let it happen. Just--can you promise me something?"_

_"Anything," she replies instantly, wanting to wipe the heartbreaking tears from Jane's eyes._

_"When you get home, light a candle. For me. For my ma. For my dad. Please--don't forget me."_

_And in that moment, Lily realizes that Jane is very, very afraid._

_"I couldn't forget you if I tried, Jane," she says softly. "And--dying is quicker and easier than falling asleep," she adds._

_Sirius Black told her father that, almost thirty years ago._

_She wishes she had their strength. Sirius', and her father's._

_"Yeah," Jane murmurs. "Just--can you distract me from it?"_

_"I'll tell you a story, shall I?" Lily says after a moment. "About a magical school in Scotland. And about people who have owls for pets and wave magic wands and use gold for money. And about people who can turn into cats, or into dogs, and about people who find a home in unexpected places."_

_"Okay," Jane whispers._

_"The school is called Hogwarts, and can only be accessed by train..."_

...

It's six in the morning when the place lands in London.

Lily has never been so glad to see Big Ben in her life.


End file.
